Lightning Strikes
by demigod ravenclaw
Summary: SPOILERS FOR THE BURNING MAZE! Jason Grace went to Valhalla after fighting Caligula. There, he meets Annabeth's cousin...not that they realize so at the time. I OWN NOTHING!
1. Chapter 1

**SPOILERS FOR THE BURNING MAZE!**

* * *

_What if Jason Grace went to Valhalla?_

* * *

Zeus, The King of The Gods, did not get shaken up.

So there was no reason he should today, right? Right.

But why did he feel uneasy as he watched his son- _two _of his sons- fight Caligula: one watching as he supported Piper Mclean, the other taking on the Emperor?

Zeus understood: he knew that Jason wouldn't make it out.

That didn't bother him, though. It didn't affect him.

And yet...

"Hermes?"

"Yes, Father?"

"Send this to Lord Odin. I- I wish for my son to go to Valhalla. Jason, I mean."

"Father, is that wise?" Athena asked, pursing her lips.

"I cannot do for him what I did for Thalia: the Fates have seen it. But I may be able to help him this way." Zeus replied.

Hermes nodded and took the letter away.

* * *

Hera looked down on her..._her charge. _She was his _patron._

And Zeus's plan...she hated it. Hades would never stand to this.

But it would stand for a while. Maybe he could be happy for a while.

* * *

"Hello." Jason blinked as he looked up. A girl in a green hijab, leather pants and boots, and a black dress was smiling at him. "I'm Samirah Al-Abbas, but call me Sam. They told me you already knew about Norse mythology, so I'm your Valkyrie. This is the afterlife, Valhalla. Come on: I'll show you your room."

Jason nodded slowly.

Valhalla? Norse? Why wasn't he in the Underworld?

_Brother. _The Son of Jupiter had heard that voice once before...it was Artemis. Thinking of her made him think of Thalia...that just made his heart tug. _GRACE! I know you miss your sister, but our Father needs you at Valhalla. The All-Father knows you are not Norse but kindly don't reveal so until Dinner. I must go...I shouldn't have made this call in the first place but it's what Thalia would want. She doesn't know about...today yet._

Maybe Thalia had a point about Artemis being the best goddess. But it was _for_ Thalia that Jason knew now anyway.

Shaking all thoughts of his sister from his brain, he quickened his pace to keep up with Sam. Sam herself had stopped and was talking to a man.

"Jason." He turned towards her. "This is Hunding, he works for the manager, Helgi. I really have to go so he will introduce you. Sorry."

Before he could offer a reply, Sam was gone.

He sighed and followed Hunding up the stairs.

* * *

"It's late." Hunding noted. "You go to bed, kid. You'll meet them in the morning. I guess your dinner must wait for tomorrow. Bye kid."

"Bye."

Needless to say, Jason did not sleep well.

His dreams were full of images, flashing before his eyes.

The 7, Nico, Reyna, The Camps in flames, _Thalia._

He woke to the sound of excited voices.

"IT'S A NEW GUY!" (T.J.)

"I'M NOT BEANTOWN ANYMORE!" (Magnus)

"You weren't Beantown: Alex was. We just waited for you to figure that out." (Mallory)

"Wo-o-o-o-ow, Chase." (Alex)

"I wonder if he fights?" (Halfborn.)

"_I _brought him here." (Sam)

Jason bolted up, recognizing that last voice.

"Oh hey." He groaned. "I'm Jason, your roommate."

"I'm Magnus Chase, Son of Frey. This Mallory Keen, Daughter of Frigg. Halfborn Gunderson, a berserker. Alex Fierro, trans, currently a boy and the Son of Loki. And Sam's a daughter of Loki."

"Cool, I'm a demigod too! Hey, I'm hungry."

Basically, it was a normal day full of dying and avoiding his new roommates as he wondered why The Fates were so cruel!

Until dinner that is.

* * *

"YOU ARE WORTHY OF VALHALLA!" Helgi shrieked, tears cascading from his face. "OH, IT'S BEAUTIFUL! I LOVE IT!"

Jason had been the only soul 'reaped' late last night, but that day (Tuesday) there had been four more.

Three had died to make sure a little girl got home safe, and one had sacrificed himself.

Two were children of Thor, one of Tyr and the other mortal.

"So!" Erika, a Valkyrie about 19 called out. Her blonde hair flew out of her face, drawing attention. "Jason Grace, may I ask if you are a demigod or a mortal?"

"I-I'm a demigod."

"Which Norse god is your parent?" Another Valkyrie, Delly, called out.

Jason straightened up.

"My Father is not Norse: he is Jupiter, King of the Roman Gods."

* * *

**PLEASE READ:**

**This sets place after The Ship Of The Dead.**

**Next chapter, Jason meets Hearth and Blitz.**


	2. Chapter 2

_My Father is Jupiter._

That's when Hel broke loose. See what I did there? Hel?

"HE CAN'T BE HERE!"

"THIS IS THE NORSE AFTERLIFE!"

"ROMANUS!"

"THERE ARE OTHERS WHO HAVE TO DEAL WITH THIS?"

"**SILENCE!**" Odin boomed.

Everyone turned to look at him, Jason still standing.

"Please _calm down," _Odin continued. "I knew Jason was Roman when I sent Samirah to get him. He can be here, not all here are Norse, and yes, there are other gods. Greek, Roman, Norse, Egyptian...Jason shall stay here unless, and only unless, we must let him go. Thank you: my new Powerpoint '_What to do so they listen to you!' _will be presented tomorrow morning."

"Please leave the hall!" Helgi screamed. Everyone scrambled out again.

* * *

"So..." Alex trailed off. "My pronouns are she and her right now, by the way. Now that your secret is out, we should get properly acquainted. Do you remember our names, Jason?"

"Er," Jason thought for a second. "Alex, Magnus, Halfborn, T-T.J.? And...Marl-Mar-Malla-Mallory!"

Magnus clapped slowly.

"Good gob, Jace! Can I call you Jace?" T.J. smiled so brightly it was impossible to say 'no.'.

"Hey, Jason! I almost forgot! Your funeral is going to be tomorrow morning...we can go, if you like." Sam offered, tucking a strand of hair behind her hijab.

_I could see Piper, Leo, Annabeth, Percy, Frank, Hazel, Hedge, Millie, Apollo, Reyna...Thalia._

"Yes!" Jason practically screamed. "I want to go...my friends will be there. And my sister."

Silence.

"Do you want to meet my dwarf and elf friend? One is a son of Freya and the other is mortal and deaf..." Magnus asked awkwardly.

"Sure," Jason shrugged. "I now ASL."

Freya was like...Aphrodite. So...the dwarf was like Piper.

Just thinking of her made his heart crack.

"Your dwarf and elf are here!" A voice called.

A fashionably dressed dwarf and a lanky elf came out of the shadows.

(ASL will be underlined)

Jason: Hello, I'm J-A-S-O-N. So of the Roman god, Jupiter.

Hearthstone: A Roman God? Wow.

Blitzen: HI! I'm B-L-I-T-Z-E-N and this is H-E-A-R-T-H-S-T-O-N-E

Alex: Guys, let's get ready. We have to go to J's funeral!

"Hearth reads lips." Mallory said, proudly.

"Cool." Jason stated.

"Well? It's funeral time."

* * *

Couple hours later, they were standing outside the hotel.

It was almost 2 in the morning, as dinner had ended right before Hearth and Blitz came.

They had gotten a couple hours of sleep and Hearth was making a portal to transport them.

"Where to?" Blitz asked, straightening his tie.

"San Francisco."

Hearthstone: Hop in!

The plan was that they would camp outside and rise early to bust into Camp Jupiter.

"You have to make at least one person cry." Alex told him. "I'm a boy now, by the way."

"Err, okay? How do I explain that I'm still dead?"

"That's your problem, Jasey." Mallory snickered.

"Ugh"

* * *

7 A.M

"It's time!" Alex decided, dragging them toward the Camp. Technically they were camping on the borders so they didn't have to worry about getting _in._

Jason heard the happenings clearly: a rune of Hearth's, of course.

_"He-He was a brother to us all," Reyna began. "He was one of my best friends. It's hard to believe that he is gone but...it was a worthy death._

_"WE WILL BRING HIM BACK!" Leo interrupted._

_"BRING HIM BACK, BRING HIM BACK!" Everyone chanted- even Reyna, surprisingly._

_"HE IS ALIVE!" Percy roared. It was too good of a chance...so Jason took it._

"Hello," Jason said suddenly, walking out into the midst of people.

Alex, Sam, Magnus, Blitz, Hearth, Mallory, T.J and Halfborn walked out behind him.

Seeing Magnus and Alex, Annabeth burst into tears, understanding why Jason could be here.

"Jason?" A lone figure, about 16, rose to meet his eyes.

Jason smiled weakly before responding, "Hello, Thals."


	3. Chapter 3

Jason smiled weakly. "Hey, Thals."

Thalia threw herself into his arms, Jason looked down on her head, he saw something...or rather, a lack of something.

"THALS! You're not a hunter anymore?" Jason gasped.

"She quit." Annabeth whispered, the only one the realized _Jason was still dead. _"After you died, she didn't want to be immortal anymore."

Thalia smiled softly, meeting his eyes. "Well?" She choked out. "Why not make this a sibling hug?"

Apollo wrapped his arms around them both, as if to protect them. Several other pairs of arms joined it and Jason extracted himself gently.

"You-You're back! You didn't die!" Leo laughed disbelievingly.

"No, he's not." Percy interrupted. "He did die, didn't you? You were with Magnus and Alex."

Everyone stared at Percy in confusion, shock and anger.

"Yes, I died." Jason confirmed. "I just...went to the Norse afterlife which means I can sneak out for a period of time as long as I don't die up here and come back as soon as possible."

"NO!" Thalia felt her eyes widen as Jason put a hand on her shoulder. But her eyes didn't widen in horror: they widened in surprise. What surprised her was not that Jason had not come back, or that he had gone to the Norse afterlife or even that he was here.

What surprised her the most was that she had not shouted. Neither had Reyna, Leo or Piper. Or even Percy, Annabeth, Hazel or Frank. It wasn't or Nico.

It was Lester who had yelled 'NO!'. Not Apollo, who was conceited and arrogant, but Lester. Lester Papadopolous, who felt raw emotion.

Jason let go of his sister for second and smiled softly.

"_The ones who love us never really leave us...we can always find them. In here." _Jason quoted, placing a hand over Lester's heart.

Hazel choked up again, remembering the 7's Harry Potter Movie Marathons.

"Sirius." Leo remembered. "He had a _black _fate, didn't he?"

Jason nodded.

"Uh, guys?" Sam interrupted. "I don't want to barge in, I know this is special- but Jason _will _have to leave."

"Just give me a second." The Son of Jupiter had said all he wanted to the 7. Nico could talk to him at any interval and Reyna wouldn't meet his eye. Dakota, Bobby and Gwen...they weren't even looking at him. Ignoring the pain in his chest, he repeated his previous statement.

"_The ones who love us never really leave us...we can always find them. In_ here.- Sirius Black."


	4. Epilogue

Decades Later

"Jason?" Thomas Jefferson Jr. called. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine..." Jason whispered. "It's-It's nothing."

"Are you sure? Do you wanna talk about it?"

"She died today." Jason's head spun as he said it, admitted to it. It made it so much more real...made it harder to think that it never happened at all. "Thalia. My _sister _died today."

"I'm sorry." T.J paused for a minute. "How?"

"She-She was _92, _T.J. And there was...there was this monster, see. She was too old. Sam, if there had been someone to help her, she would have survived!"

"Jason?" T.J paused, unsure if he wanted to risk upsetting him. "Aren't you dead as well? Shouldn't this be a _happy _moment?"

eJason shook his head, tears falling free.

"T.J...when she was alive I could leave the hotel to go see her! I-I could do it whenever I wanted...but now she's in the _Greek _afterlife. The Greek and Roman afterlife. I'll never see her again. Leo, Piper, they're both gone too...Frank, Hazel,Reyna..Will. Percy, Annabeth and Nico are alive but they all have their own families."

Sam's hands flew to her mouth.

"Can you leave?" Jason whispered. T.J nodded, walking out with one last glance at Jason.

"Jason! Jason!" The Son of Jupiter wheeled around to see a teenager with blonde hair, blue eyes, sunglasses and a white toga.

He looked closer and the image fluttered, turning into a lanky, acne-ridden boy with a mop of messy brown hair. Several burns and cuts shone on his face. He looked younger now and Jason would remember those eyes anywhere.

"Lester. Lord Apollo." Jason felt his eyes tear up yet again. _Hadn't he just stopped crying? Control yourself, Jason!_

"Little brother! You're missing Thalia and your friends, huh?" Lester put a hand on Jason's shoulder.

"How did you know?" Jason asked, his voice a gravelly whisper.

"That would be our fault." Two young Valkyries stepped out of the shadows. One Jason recognized as Erika, the girl who'd asked him his if he was mortal on his first night at Valhalla. She still looked as young as she had been then. The other had honey blonde hair and sea-green eyes. She looked about 20-25

"Who are you?" Jason cocked his head.

"Well, I'm Erika, you knew that...but I'm, uh, also a Hunter of Artemis!" Erika looked away pointedly. "I'll be leaving the Hotel forever, soon. I'm to be the new Lieutenant."

"Ah...Good Luck, Hunter." The former Praetor nodded.

"Thank you, boy. But I imagine you'll be _severely _more interested in my comrade."

The blonde girl smiled softly. "Hey, Uncle Jason. I'm...I'm Charlie. Charlotte 'Charlie' Zoe Jackson? Percy and Annabeth's daughter?"

Jason blinked, his eyes darting to a picture of the 7 on his nightstand. He could see them in her face. Floor 19 hadn't changed much.

Samirah and Amir were now staying here, having died years ago. There was a young boy named...

"Luke! The boy next door!" Jason exclaimed. "He's..."

"My brother." Zoe confirmed. "Luke Ethan Jackson. But we're getting off track! Lord Apollo has a gift for you. It's your birthday isn't it?"

It was.

"Here you go, little brother." Apollo held out a pen. It was a pleasant purple with an orange cap. The inscription was in green and read: Υποβιβασμός.

"The Greek word for 'underflow'...as in, Riptide." Jason realized.

"If you touch the word, it will take you to Elysium." Apollo smiled brightly. "You'll be taken back to this room in 12 hours but if you'd like to leave sooner, simply say 'Sirius.' I wish you the best of luck and a wonderful life-err, death! Goodbye, Jason Grace!"

"Goodbye, Apollo." Jason whispered, smiling.

For once, he was at peace.


End file.
